Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Catherdrals Open the Way You See Life


"Cathedral" by Ramond Carver is a story about a husband, the narrator, who is jealous of his wife's blind friend, Robert. The husband makes continuous negative remarks about Robert, showing his insecurity. When Robert comes to visit his longtime friend, the narrator's wife, the narrator gets furious and very jealous, questioning his visit. During the whole story, the husband has a huge negative outlook on the blind man, that he doesn't stop to realize that this man is harmless and is just looking for some company and friendship. Towards the end of the story the husband realizes that the blind man is a really nice guy who means no harm against his marriage with his wife.

The blind man instructed the husband to close his eyes and draw a Cathedral. "My eyes were still closed. I was in my house. I knew that. But I didn't feel like I was inside anything. 'It's really something,' I said" (78).

The narrator comes to the realization that the blind man was a good man by listening to him and learning from him. He came to realize that the blind man was in solitude, just as he was when he had his eyes close. It is almost as if he escaped his life and had no worries when he closed his eyes. By listening and experiencing what the blind man is going through, the narrator learns that he shouldn't make opinions about people before he meets them and he shouldn't be so quick to judge.

Carver, Raymond. "Cathedral." The Seagull Reader: Stories. Ed. Joseph Kelly. New York: WW Norton, 2001. 8-23.

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